Essential Oil From <i>Tetrapanax papyrifer</i> (Hook.) K. Koch: Chemical Composition, Antioxidant Activity, α‐Glucosidase Inhibitory Effect Integrating Molecular Docking Analysis

This study investigated the chemical composition of essential oil from Tetrapanax papyrifer and evaluated its antioxidant and anti-α-glucosidase activity. A total of 61 essential oil compounds from T. papyrifer were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID). The essential oil is rich in sesquiterpenoids (96.05%), with major components identified as β-cubebene (13.96%), caryophyllene (13.43%), α-cubebene (12.12%), copaene (7.89%), δ-cadinene (7.29%), eremophilene (6.15%), humulene (5.26%). The essential oil showed dose-dependent antioxidant activity with IC₅₀ values of 723.15 ± 24.10 and 200.74 ± 9.90 µg/mL for 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) assays, respectively. Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) antioxidant capacity was 222.73 ± 25.49 µmol/g. The essential oil exhibited a 17.86% ± 0.56% inhibitory effect against α-glucosidase at 500 µg/mL. Moreover, in silico molecular docking analyses were utilized to validate the in vitro anti-α-glucosidase results further.